Burn Out Every Inch

It's been a while since we had a music post. So, let's take the opportunity to wish a Happy 47th Birthday to Courtney Love!

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that she's made it to 47 years. It seems as if she's been about to fall over the edge for the last twenty years. But I'm happy she's still with us. Her voice has always had a rough appeal to me. The way it goes from growl to groan to shriek over the course of a song may not be beautiful, but it is definitely expressive.

When I first heard her in the early '90s, Courtney's voice had a distinct quality of timbre and annunciation. I didn't like it, but I found it interesting. Likewise, I found her songs crude and blunt, but there was a fascinating self-revelation to her performance, sometimes brazen exhibitionism and sometimes awkward exposure. Over the years, I've grown to appreciate her music.

So, here's hoping for health and prosperity for Courtney. May she continue creating such engaging music for many years to come!

Now, let's listen to some music.

What A Woman Can Do

Detail of Judith Slaying Holofernes (c. 1620) by Artemisia Gentileschi

On this date in 1593, Artemisia Gentileschi was born.

She is one of my favorite painters of the Baroque era. The dramatic realism and intense contrast of shadow and light are filled with intense emotion. Fear, rage, horror, confusion and pain are expressed with an unflinching visceral honesty. Many of her peers of the Italian Baroque adhere to an interesting but artificial mannerism, even Caravaggio gets occasionally caught up in the stylistics. Artemisia works within the same tradition, but maintains a powerful sense of authenticity throughout her career.

Sadly, there is a well-intentioned but misguided reductionist interpretation of her works that dominates both public and academic analysis. As a teen, Artemisia was raped by her tutor and, when pressing charges against her assailant, she was subjected to torture by thumbscrews as a part of her testimony. Obviously, such an experience is going to have a profound effect upon her psychological state, which will then be expressed through her art.

It is true that many of her paintings focus on themes relating to sexual victimization and powerful women. But she has many works that don't deal with such themes. To reduce her creative aesthetic to this "one note" thematic expression is a needless reduction. I feel it is better to study Artemisia just as one would any great artist of the Italian Baroque and then focus on the gender related themes. To do otherwise is to reduce her to a proto-feminist icon.



Lot and His Daughters (c. 1640s) by Artemisia Gentileschi


As a comparison, would we limit our appreciation of Raphael to his "Madonna and Child" works? Is the study of Andy Warhol limited to his "Campbell Soup" works? Do we limit our Rembrandt studies to his self-portraits?

Friday Flowers: Orchid Edition

The Orchid Flower

(By Sam Hamill)

Just as I wonder

whether it's going to die,

the orchid blossoms

and I can't explain why it

moves my heart, why such pleasure

comes from one small bud

on a long spindly stem, one

blood red gold flower

opening at mid-summer,

tiny, perfect in its hour.

Even to a white-

haired craggy poet, it's

purely erotic,

pistil and stamen, pollen,

dew of the world, a spoonful

of earth, and water.

Erotic because there's death

at the heart of birth,

drama in those old sunrise

prisms in wet cedar boughs,

deepest mystery

in washing evening dishes

or teasing my wife,

who grows, yes, more beautiful

because one of us will die.

Yeah, it's about time we got some orchids on this blog. ;-)

In the Likeness of God

Book of Genesis by R. Crumb

While I was on vacation, I had the opportunity to visit the San Jose Museum of Art where the exhibit "The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb's Book of Genesis" was on display. It contained the original drawn pages from which the graphic novel was created. Each page of the comprehensive fifty chapter work was exhibited. I'm not a fan of Crumb's work and I am certainly no fan of the Book of Genesis, but the show was impressive.

As regards Crumb, I've long admired his amazing skills of composition and rendering. Throughout his long career, his ability to structure a panel, within the multi-panel context of a comic book page, is awe-inspiring. However, I have a hard time reading his work because his figures are so egregiously ugly and crass. I definitely respect the skill that he uses in drawing these characters, but I find their odious appearances to be distracting and tiresome. I can only enjoy Crumb in very small doses.

However, within the Book of Genesis, these gnarly homunculi seem appropriate to the subject matter. The world of the biblical Patriarchs is crude and rough-hewn. It is a world where the "Crumb people" seem to belong. Moreover, his attention to detail creates for an immersive experience. Even the infamously tedious "Generations of So-And-So" wherein "Whats-His-Name begat Whos-That, and lived another couple hundred years" is made into an interesting read by creating veristic portraits of people living in the Bronze Age, eating, fighting, farming, dancing, or just looking tired.

That's the key to Crumb's success. The attention to the details of character and setting creates a convincing world in which the reader can easily follow the events being portrayed. The famous stories, like Noah's Flood or the Sacrifice of Isaac, are given superb treatment, but it is the obscure stories, such as Sarah joining Pharaoh's harem or the Massacre of the Shechemites, that really benefit from Crumb's meticulous attention. These are obscure stories that get lost within the rambling biblical narrative, but Crumb's ability to impart drama and significance through his illustrations make them stand out.



Book of Genesis by R. Crumb


As regard the Genesis text, it's still a horrible thing. I've had to read Genesis numerous times while pursuing my theology studies and I really detest it. However, Crumb's rendering of the text smoothed out the incoherency of the text. The images impart an empathic humanity to the characters, as detestable or immoral though they may be. Even the weird things like Lot's daughters conspiring to seduce their father or Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of "red red stuff" feels less absurd or disturbing when portrayed by Crumb's drawings.

My biggest complaint is that Crumb missed the opportunity to express the ideas of the Documentary Hypothesis in this work.

Four Months at Paideia: Considerations

I'm back from my vacation!!!

I've been thinking about what I want from Paideia. How can I improve the quality of this blog? With a few exceptions, I've maintained a decent reliability of posting, but I think it can be improved. I can add more scheduled features, similar to the Friday Flowers. For instance, I can bring back the Weekly Wrap. By having a special feature at least four days out of the week, it'll provide a consistency to the topics.

As Paideia currently reads, you know that I'll discuss certain topics eventually, but precisely when is open to question. To a certain degree, I think that spontaneity is part of this blog's charm. However, I feel that giving a reliable sense of when certain topics will be discussed will be good for the growth of Paideia's readership. I'm still considering what will be the "regularly scheduled program" and what will be improvised postings. I'm hoping to have it settled by next week's Weekly Wrap on Wednesday. ;-)

It's been four months since I started this blogging project. Looking back, I'm happy that I did.

Many thanks for reading. I hope you all enjoy the upcoming posts!

Friday's Flowers Are Fuchsia Again

Angels' Earrings Dainty

Mars Being Red
(By Marvin Bell)

Being red is the color of a white sun where it lingers
on an arm. Color of time lost in sparks, of space lost
inside dance. Red of walks by the railroad in the flush
of youth, while our steps released the squeaks
of shoots reaching for the light. Scarlet of sin, crimson
of fresh blood, ruby and garnet of the jewel bed,
early sunshine, vestiges of the late sun as it turns
green and disappears. Be calm. Do not give in
to the rabid red throat of age. In a red world, imprint
the valentine and blush of romance for the dark.
It has come. You will not be this quick-to-redden
forever. You will be green again, again and again.

Just because I'm away on vacation doesn't mean that I can't give you all a Friday Flower post. ;-)

Takin' a Vacation

Vacation

(By Rita Dove)

  

I love the hour before takeoff,

that stretch of no time, no home

but the gray vinyl seats linked like

unfolding paper dolls. Soon we shall

be summoned to the gate, soon enough

there’ll be the clumsy procedure of row numbers

and perforated stubs—but for now

I can look at these ragtag nuclear families

with their cooing and bickering

or the heeled bachelorette trying

to ignore a baby’s wail and the baby’s

exhausted mother waiting to be called up early

while the athlete, one monstrous hand

asleep on his duffel bag, listens,

perched like a seal trained for the plunge.

Even the lone executive

who has wandered this far into summer

with his lasered itinerary, briefcase

knocking his knees—even he

has worked for the pleasure of bearing

no more than a scrap of himself

into this hall. He’ll dine out, she’ll sleep late,

they’ll let the sun burn them happy all morning

—a little hope, a little whimsy

before the loudspeaker blurts

and we leap up to become

Flight 828, now boarding at Gate 17.

Well, I'm not taking a plane trip, but I will be going on vacation. So, expect posting to be very light until after July 4th. I might be able to pop in now and then for a brief post, but I can't promise it. Anyways, I've got over 160 posts on this blog. Certainly there must be something you'll find of interest in the archives. ;-)

Light from Behind the Screen

For Milton (2011) by Carrie Seid

The World But Seems to Be

(By Fakhruddin 'Iraqi)

The world but seems to be

yet is nothing more

than a line drawn

between light and shadow.

Decipher the message

of this dream-script

and learn to distinguish time

from Eternity.

The Lora Schlesinger Gallery is currently showing an exhibition of Carrie Seid's artwork, entitled "Animal and Mineral". The works are somewhere between paintings and sculptures. In essence, they are aluminum boxes with one side left open. Over this opening, a silk screen is stretched and treated for translucency. Within the box, divisions and compartments are defined with aluminum sectionals.

The aluminum box is hung like a picture, with the silk side facing the viewer. As light hits the work, the silk is revealed like a typical abstract painting. However, because of its translucency, the light passes through to reveal the structural elements beneath the silk surface and reflect off the polished metal. This reflection is enhanced by the application of mylar within the box. The end result is that there appears to be an inner luminosity within the box that acts as a "back lighting" to the silk screen.

It's a compelling exhibit. The play of light and shadow over and beneath the flat silk screen creates an enthralling sense of translucent space. It's a dynamic effect, changing with the movements of the viewer or the positioning of the light sources. And it is this quality of dynamism that gives the show its title. When you stand still and look at these works, there is a orderly and petrified feel to the image upon the screen, like a gemstone or a piece of amber. But when you view it while moving, the illuminated curves and shadowy contours rotate and flow like a living, biomorphic form.


Bittersweet (2009) by Carrie Seid


These ambiguities of animal or mineral, shadow or light, underneath or on the surface, are the heart of this aesthetic conflict. To get all artsy, these works contain an inherent Apollonian/Dionysian dialectic.

It Will Show You Your Dreams

Twenty-five years ago on this date, Labyrinth was premiered. Starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and a whole bunch of muppets, this was a movie about a girl who unthinkingly wishes her baby brother away and then must rescue him from the Goblin King, Jareth, by traversing the magical Labyrinth and its numerous hazards within 13 hours. The acting isn't great and the muppets get a bit tiresome, but the imaginative qualities are wonderful.

Over the decades, Labyrith has developed a cult movie status. Many scenes have become iconic within the fantasy genre, from the fae masquerade to the endless topiary maze to the Escheresque castle of the Goblin King. The visual design in setting and costume has been highly influential in subsequent "fae fantasy" stories, be it literary, graphic, or cinematic.

Here in Los Angeles, there is a yearly celebration, the Labyrinth of Jareth, that originates from this movie. It is a two-day masquerade ball. Obviously, this is a big event with the local costume enthusiasts. I've never been to the event, but I have a few friends who are regulars and the photos of the costumes are amazing!!! This year's Masquerade is coming up this weekend.

Paying the Piper

Pied Piper of Hamelin by Gustave Spangenberg

In 1384, the town records of Hamelin records:

"It is 100 years since our children left."

That is our earliest documentation of the "Pied Piper" incident of the German town of Hamelin. Details regarding a piper, the infestation of rats, and the fate of the children get introduced in later eras. For instance, the Lueneburg manuscript (c. 1440-50) documents:

In the year of 1284, on the day of Saints John and Paul
on 26 June
130 children born in Hamelin were seduced
By a piper, dressed in all kinds of colours,
and lost at the place of execution near the koppen.

That's more detail, but it remains vague. What does the text mean by "seduced"? How were the children "lost"? Moreover, it's nearly two centuries after the event. Given the standards of the era, can their history be trusted?



Pied Piper of Hamelin by Kate Greenaway


Regardless of the historical particulars, the story has been a source of inspiration of writers and artists over the centuries.

Eight Dance Songs for June

It's time for our monthly celebration of Dance music over the decades!

We start our survey in 1971 and go in five year increments all the way until 2006. I limit our selection in such a manner because that's a time frame in which I feel moderately comfortable discussing. Yeah, we can hop with the "bobby soxers" of an earlier era, but my selection would be limited to a shallow sampling of pop standards. Likewise, I can discuss the modern dance/club scene, but I don't want to get all "get off of my lawn" about it.

So, here are our dance hits for June:

Windows of the Soul

Cloudy Sky (2010) by Hideaki Kawashima

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to see an exhibit of Hideaki Kawashima's works at the Richard Heller Gallery entitled "Turning". I was fond of his previous work, but not really an "enthusiast" of it. His works are characterized by captivating eyes, filled with emotional expressiveness. However, his previous works tended towards abstract figural shapes around these powerful eyes.

Ghostly blobs with intense eyes, they were haunting and somewhat disturbing. They literally were "eyes without a face". I understand that there were Buddhist concepts of emptiness and transience underlying his paintings. They were powerful works, but I never felt comfortable with them. Something was lost in the cultural translation. These ghosts seemed forlorn.



Impossibility (2008) by Hideaki Kawashima


In "Turning", the eyes have found their face.